Frances Messano

Board

Frances Messano is a managing partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy, where she co-leads the diverse leaders investment area and designs the content for their annual Summit conference. Prior to joining NewSchools, Frances served as vice president of strategy on Teach for America’s Strategy, Innovation and Organization Development team. In this role, she led the development of TFA’s long-term, national strategy. Before that, Frances was an Associate Partner at Monitor Institute, the social impact practice within Monitor Deloitte’s strategy consulting arm, where she helped education organizations scale their impact through strategy development, organizational design, leadership development, and program design. She also expanded the Institute’s education practice and developed the strategy for Deloitte’s social impact service line. Additional experiences include working at Morgan Stanley in equity sales and structuring.

Frances has an MBA from Harvard Business School and AB from Harvard College. She serves on the board of GO Public Schools, Latinos for Education and Charter Board Partners, and as an advisor to RISE Colorado. She is also a Pahara-Aspen education fellow. Frances is a first-generation college graduate and an alum of Prep for Prep, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, non-profit organizations that she credits with helping her gain access to educational and professional opportunity.

The members of our Leadership Council are Oakland natives, residents, parents, grandparents, former teachers, principals, and alumni of Oakland public schools. Our leaders have deep connections to Oakland and strong backgrounds in education. The Leadership Council supports and guides our work in the best interest of Oakland students.